One Weird Reason People Suck at Parking 

When I get in my car and go to back up, if I see someone behind me, I generally wait several extra seconds to make sure that car really is waiting and not about to drive past me. At least in my case, its about being cautious and not petty.

Its not territorialness that keeps me from leaving as fast, its being nervous now because there's another thing I could possibly hit that I have to account for and I'm already nervous about backing up

Interestingly, I tend to move faster when I know someone is waiting for my spot.

I don't know about anyone else, but the reason I'm slow to pull out of a spot when someone is waiting is not because it's more valuable to me or something. It's because they're blocking sight lines in an already crowded parking lot, and they might suddenly drive forward at any moment, so I trust the safety of the environment less and I'm more cautious.

Could it be that people get nervous when they know they are being watched? Like when someone watches you type or do math?

How the heck did they rule out the complication of there now being another car they could hit and people taking time to reevaluate the direction they want to backup into?

Honestly people just feel pressured when they’re being watched and when someone’s waiting for them to finish. More likely to screw up.

For the library example, I stay around longer to not give the impression I'm only leaving because they came.

I find that people rarely seem to think "How would I feel on the receiving end of this behavior?" I don't pretend to understand it.

Did the parking study account for how close the waiter pulled in? Seems totally expected to take a little longer if you feel someone might inch behind you into the space you need to back into, especially in a legal system where that would place you backing out as liable for any damages. Also seems totally expected to be upset at someone you perceive as rushing you, imo, I think that would put the honking scenario into the altruism/punishment category.

I've never waited for a parking spot in my life. My method is simple. When I enter a parking lot, I gauge how full it seems to be. If it's over 95% full, meaning there will only be a few empty spaces, I immediately drive towards the zone that would be least desirable. There will always be 1 or 2 spaces there. If the parking lot is only 50% full, I just park at the first decent empty spot I see. If it's mostly empty, then and ONLY then, do I drive towards the more desirable/closer spots and look for one. Worst case scenario with my strategy, I get 2 free minutes of cardio that I would otherwise spend looking for a close spot.

Idk about all this. I try to go faster if someone is waiting, but I often take longer because I am nervous about hitting the person waiting close behind me. I already have anxiety about backing out of parking lots as it is, so being watched is not fun. If they honk, then I may straight up panic and take even longer

You should talk about the study a couple years back that showed drivers of large SUVs and trucks tend to be more aggressive/bigger jerks both on and off the road.

I don't think all people leaving "slowly" are doing it territoriality, if there are people or cars around I want to be careful, so I go slower. Though if they decide to honk at me I might just re-park my car and find another reason to need to be parked there. Cause a. ruuude. and b. I don't trust them to not cause an accident if they are that impatient. Though I think I tend to yield most "territories" cause it's not worth the time or effort to be territorial.

5:58 it makes sense how promoting a culture of competitiveness increases this counterproductive petty territorialism

I think people are right in saying they often are just more nervous to pull out when someone's waiting, but this is exactly why people should back INTO a spot! So much safer! But then also, pulling up a route, checking messages, not wanting to feel panicky and rushed before driving are valid reasons to wait longer too. I'd be interested in the reverse scenario - people seem to be extemely impatient and get too close when you've signalled to park INTO a spot and need to wait for you to do so before they can safely get away. I bet that makes it take longer.

I tend to sit in my parked car for a time because my car is my "man cave" and an opportunity to sit in peace and silence. However if someone is looking to park in the spot I'm occupying I will quickly pull out and head on my way. Someone waiting on me makes me very anxious and that ruins my peace.

A lot of these findings sound like straight up chimp energy territoriality, including the "high staus" deference.

Glad people here are saying what I was thinking. When someone is waiting on me I get more anxious and careful. If they honk at me and try to rush me, then I become pissy and territorial

😅- as far as parking goes im just glad to get inside the lines (it’s the small victories)

tables/stools at a bar, seats in a classroom without assigned seating, pews in church.... people do get possessive. or maybe it's just a matter of strangers interfering with your habits and rituals, more OCD than territoriality. it sounds like that parking-lot study drew conclusions without accounting for all possible explanations. note the number of comments about exercising more care when backing out when there is a car in the lane waiting. happened to me today. i just wanted to go to work, not assert my superiority... but i wasn't gonna back into a waiting car.

I always assumed the parking issue was fear of your car and the other hitting each other, regardless of who is at fault. I am also fascinated at how people have no problem turning into a parking spot, but when they back out, they don't immediately start turning (reversing their action) and instead have to back up half a car length then get stuck with not enough room to turn anymore.

When others are waiting, the person leaving has less room to maneuver when backing out. If someone is honking, that person could be impatient, so the risk of a collision is higher.

I wonder how much of the parking situation is actually territorial nature and how much is “I am still assessing the goals of this stranger behind me and calculating the route least likely to result in an accidental collision while backing out”

Small quibble: the use of "possessive" words in English, and many languages, does not necessarily encode a sense of "possession" as in ownership. This simplified understanding of a grammatical concept is rather pernicious, but think about it, if I say "my brother," nobody would think that I am saying I "own" said brother. Rather we understand it to mean a relationship. Likewise, "my lane" does not necessarily mean "I think I OWN this lane;" it can simply mean "the lane I am in, as opposed to the lane the other was in." If you say "my flight leaves at 9am," or "my ride is here," or "my train is late," all sorts of things, nobody would assume you think you own these objects or concepts. The "possessive" structure of grammar is way more versatile than mere literal "possession." The reason why this nuance matters, is because you have every right to be angry when someone cuts you off. Just like with everything in life, there are legal and social conventions that we expect others to obey to keep everything running smoothly and safely. When you are driving 2-4 ton death machines, it is incumbent on all drivers to be mindful of others on the road and that means giving them space. It doesn't matter that you don't literally, legally, own the space, when someone cuts you off they are stepping out of line. What is cutting off? It's abruptly and not safely changing into lanes or turning right in front of another car, causing them to have to slow down sharply or stop lest they potentially crash into you. Maybe you speed up to get in front of them instead of slow down or wait to just pull in behind. Maybe you didn't put your signal on, or put it on so last second it wasn't enough time to warn the other driver anyway. These are all dangerous and obnoxious behaviors that cause annoyance and anxiety to others. If you cut someone off, they aren't angry because you infringed on "their space," they are angry because you infringed on their right to a safe and worry-free journey. Oh and if you book it around me via a wide shoulder for God knows what reason, I will smash my fist onto the horn and not remove it for all the duration you are still in front of me, even if you take two hands off the wheel to flip me birds you mother F-ing worthless human trash, and next time I WILL get your license plate and call the cops too. Be happy I don't yet have a dash cam! Ugh I hate route 20 in Guilderland. I also concur with everyone in the comments pointing out that there could be two very obvious other reasons why drivers would take longer to leave when another car is watching them: (1) the nervousness that comes from being watched and knowing someone is waiting for you, and (2) the fact that there is now another a car potentially in the way and complicating your already difficult task of getting out of the parking spot, meaning that at the very least you have to take a moment to reassess your path out. I also would add that taking longer on purpose when someone rudely honks at you is so obvious of a behavior that it really needs no explanation. It's like I said about cutting people off - it's a horrid social transgression and thus no wonder that those transgressed would retaliate.

One good example of this was my classroom in high school history. The teacher I had was very chill and half way through the year he was talking about human nature and territoriality. His example was us... he never gave us assigned seating nor did anyone change seating that entire time.. no one even changed after being called out on it.

Honking only works on the person who's honking. It's like shouting, "Get out of the way." Most of the time, no one listening. Unless you tell their name first.

I used to let the anxiety of knowing that someone's waiting get to me, and would try to leave before I was properly settled into my car, but at some point I realised it's just not worth the stress. I'll leave when I'm ready to leave. It's not being territorial - it's being safe. The only time I ever intentionally wait to leave a spot once I'm ready to leave is when someone's waiting too close, and there's no room for me to pull out in the direction I plan to travel.

I think the library thing can be understood as "I don't want to leave this area, because I don't want them to think they're shooing me away or being disrespectful." I've spent longer in areas just because I don't want them to think I think it's a competition to be in that area, which is kinda counterproductive considering I'm actively competing for the area. It's a weird undisclosed statement of "I want you to feel welcome here, and that you're not in my way." The same can be said for grocery stores when you're waiting for something. I'll linger around just in case I may forget something, because I know that once I leave someone will likely enter my spot which makes it harder for me if I want to come back. I still am never clear on the etiquette of whether you should be on the side you're looking for things on, or on the opposite side. You either cover up the area other people may want something from, or you create the uncomfortable situation of forcing people to walk in front of you if they're passing you.

How fast I move out of the spot completely depends on how patient the person waiting is. If they immediately start honking, or whatever, I will DEFINITELY be taking my sweet ass time. It also depends on how crowded I feel. If they give me plenty of room and are patient, I will hurry.

Oh man, had to come straight to this video... I just got back from adventures in not one but four parking lots. One of my pet peeves: it's a relatively full lot, and cars are roaming around trying to find a space. I'm backing out of my spot, but I can't because the cars are whizzing behind me. I clearly have my reverse lights on, so it's not like there's doubt that I'm backing out. If someone lets me leave, he/she can then take my soon to be vacated space - which happened to be the closest non-ADA spot to the store. People get so caught up looking for *empty* spots, that they don't look for *emptying* spots. Half of me wanted to get out and give the Jerry Maguire "help me help you" speech.

I wonder how these studies would work out in different cultures, the middle east, china, japan, northern europe

In the parking lot scenario, isn't the reason, once there is a car behind you, even waiting, the waiting car blocks the view of the car backing out. That makes the driver of the parked car check extra carefully, and back out more slowly. At least, that is me.

I think some people wait if there is someone waiting, if they are too close and backing out sucks.

SUPER FUN FACT: At home I park the car in an underground garage divided into many private "Units" (or "Boxes"). These Units were made in the '80s when vehicles were considerably smaller than today's. So, If another car is being parked in a unit near mine, I wait patiently for my turn as it would Not be feasible to maneuver two vehicles next to each other. I noticed that many people tend to get pretty nervous with their driving when you wait for them while they are trying to fit their SUVs in those small Units. It already happened TWICE recently that two different people, for which I was waiting, scratched the side of their car in the attempt to park quickly. EDIT: I drive a BEATER by the way.

Glad to see the comments tearing this idea apart, here's another one for the bathroom stall vs. parking space comparison: When you're about to pull out of a space, you know pretty well the person is waiting on _you_ specifically. If you're in a stall and you don't leave, someone else will. Did these researchers control for _any_ variables?

Waiting for a closer spot is ridiculous and inefficient. I can park in a further parking spot and be almost in the store before those people back out of their spot. Oh no I walked a whole 20 feet extra. Oh no!

“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast”, but when somebody is anxiously waiting for your spot and you rush, you’re more likely to make mistakes that make the process take longer.

A red light turns green and the pedestrian started crossing the road as I wanted to make a right hand turn. As I waited, the guy behind me started yelling GO GO GO so I STAYED because I was confused and worried about the screaming mans safety. It did cause the pedestrian to unwisely run across traffic to hurry up and also caused me to drive quite slowly away, accidentally on purpose. Poor guy lost 11 seconds of his time that day, I hope he made it to that life threatening appointment on time.

Seems like anytime I see someone get into their car and put their foot on the brake preparing to leave a crowded parking lot, that's the time when the driver suddenly takes out his/her phone and texts everyone they know, and maybe calls a few friends for good measure, and perhaps watches a few TikTok videos. Then they finally pull out and drive off 5-10 minutes later.

It's not about people cutting 'into my lane" it's about cutting in too close and making the situation exponentially more dangerous than it had to be which obviously in the instant can make one angry. Not to mention the difficulties of social anxiety we have. Also, I only honk if I think the person I am honking at has lost focus for some reason. Especially with someone like me who can lose focus easily if I was delaying something cause of that a honk can always help me do what I was going to anyway.

Years ago there was an app that let drivers looking for parking give a small tip to a person who was about to leave their parking spot, the tip was for waiting a few moments for the tipping driver to arrive and be ready to occupy the space. This was efficient (drivers didn’t have to drive around aimlessly looking for a spot to be vacated) and got cars parked more quickly, reducing traffic, but the city of Baltimore banned the app, claiming it was “unfair.”

10:20 Urinals are very territorial I wonder if the "common victomhood" of staying in line together, made them want to use the toilet faster, so their "fellow victims", currently also suffering in line wouldn't have to wait so long. Makes the most sense to me

Hmm, I have a few questions. 1) Did the perception of time increase for those waiting for the parked spot to clear? 2) Is it really territorial or just that today people dabble with their phones before they leave? Perhaps entering a new a new destination on the gps, following up on a text, etc.

I've had the opposite happen. I was attending a monthly social, and when I arrived, the person sitting at the corner got up and switched seats. When I wondered what she was doing, she said it's because I usually sit there. I told her we don't have designated seats, but she wanted to move anyway.

The studies and experiments don’t indicate that “territoriality” is the reason for the behaviour. Just that the behaviour exists. For instance, another possible hypothesis for the behaviour might be “to punish people for acting entitled.” Certainly, if I take longer in a parking spot, that’s why. And it would better explain the additional slowdown when they honk. That would also explain why we don’t do it in the toilet: people who really need to go aren’t entitled, they’re just dancing.

See, I take longer when someone is waiting for me to get my car moving because they're BLOCKING MY ABILITY TO GET OUTTA THE FRIGGIN PARKING SPOT

I'm glad anxieties were mentioned as a missing component of the study because that certainly accounts for much of the behavior, especially when remaining still is often the (staying out of the way) factor or increasing time to communicate verbally or otherwise. Parking: If there's a car waiting I have to recalculate how fast they're moving, whether they've stopped, opposed to no obstruction when I can smoothly pull out. Payphone: Suddenly having a person waiting can trigger social queues and remind you of other things you had yet to communicate or an interruption which occurs Men vs Women: Women are generally more cautious and likely to assume a more defensive posturing in things due to social constructs predominantly due to the day to day violences committed against women.

I'm not sure I'd chalk all of these up to "territoriality" that seems like a big stretch. You can say that people took longer, but you can't really say why they took longer, especially parking.

I think there's pressure on both people. The person leaving knows there's someone waiting, and the person waiting is sometimes blocking the path of other drivers.

OMG! The "My Precious" literally had me laughing out loud. Hilarious!

Outstanding video (as usual!). I can't wait to show it to my husband 😁😉 Really glad you're back, Hank; your vids are my fave SciShow!

I go to exercise sessions with about 20 people in the hall and no defined spaces. It's interesting that most people go to the exact same place each session and at least one person gradually moves around creating extra space for themselves.

I've experienced this so many times in the grocery store. Usually, someone blocking the whole aisle with their cart, sideways. And then they spend a full 10-15 minutes to pick ONE item.

Doo doo diligence 😂 10:20

I overthink!!!! Sue me Actually please don't, please don't

Maybe your area is different, but 99% of the time there is plenty of parking, it's just further away. I do not wait for cars to pull out, unless they are already moving when I approach. I just pick a spot that is a little further away. It confuses me that folks will drive around a parking lot for 5 minutes to get a "good" spot, especially if they are going to be parked for an hour or more.

I mean, for me it's because I first wait to see if the person's gonna pass by me, then if they stop I now need to account for them when pulling out, and 9 times outta 10 they're way too close for me to comfortably back my car out.

When i was in high school in California, our campus was filled with picnic benches. None of them were particularly luxurious, but they were nonetheless claimed by friend groups who would harass you and demand that you leave if you weren't part of their group.

Laying on the horn never helps, but a little beep does.

Glad to see you are healthy again Hank.

This past winter, I gave up waiting for one person to leave after 3 minutes waiting and moved on to find a different spot, I look in my rear-view mirror and see them finally leaving, so I made a three-point turn in the parking lot and they then put the car in drive and pulled back into that spot. There were 3 other cars in the lot looking for a space, so they weren't going to keep the space no matter what, but it was so weird. That bit about the type of car you drive making a difference explains so much. By the way, that person didn't leave until after I found a different spot. It wasn't anyone I knew; I had never been to that town before. Maybe they thought they knew me, or maybe they just drew a line and felt they had to defend it no matter how ridiculous.

I'd never heard of that. If someone's waiting for my spot or even if no one is but I notice there isn't much parking available, I feel pressure to leave my parking space quickly. I don't want anyone feeling resentful toward me. Same for drivethroughs - I always pull away from the window as soon as I have my purchase and card back, and then only stop to put away my card if there's no one behind me in the line. But yeah, if they honk at me, I'm gonna take longer, not because I'm trying to do so (though I don't feel bad about it in such a scenario), but because they startle me and make me look around to figure out who is honking and why. Is it any personalization on your vehicle or just bumper stickers? I feel like I'm a pretty timid driver (though I can definitely get fear aggressive at times) and I have decals (geeky and/or cute), but no bumper stickers.

@Hank (i.e. the man): Did this study take into account other factors that might naturally slow a person from exiting a spot to make way for others beyond territoriality? For example, though my experience is obviously anecdotal / not peer reviewed, when I’m about to back out and see someone is waiting with their blinker on, I sometimes naturally take longer because the presence of a waiting vehicle sparks me to double check for other cars and rethink the angle of my car reversal. The las thing I want to do is hit another car and ruin their day! This seems like more of a casual safety consideration rather than a deep seeded territoriality, and I’m guessing these kinds of cursory practical considerations might be significantly at play in a way that makes the territory argument a bit fuzzy. Also, Disa from the Denver Zoo is one of my good friends. I’m so happy you got to meet her!

Potential confounding factor for the bathroom stall study: most people don't want to be thought of as someone who spends a lot of time in a bathroom stall.

I get territorial about my work area (I'm a dishwasher at a couple of local restaurants). These are small, busy spaces and I'm not generally great with people being in my personal space even when I know that there's nothing personal about it for them. Definitely something to keep in mind and work at, even if just for my own mental health.

5:16 "People will undermine entire organizations with their territoriaity." Yep, warehouse or parts supply cage so-called managers are notoriously miserly with supplies. This was the case when I worked as a cable TV technician.

7:50 Give extra distance to kook mobiles. Got it!

For parking, in my opinion, more time was needed because they need to drive more carefully to avoid hitting the waiting car.

The parking spot thing definitely speaks to me a bit. I don't like idle time, so I try to get out of the spot as fast as safely possible regardless of if anyone's waiting or not, but I can relate to the "my spot" thing. Every time I go to the grocery store by my house and see both veteran parking spots are taken, I think that a non-vet just took the close spot. I have no problem walking farther, and honestly there's usually a closer spot, but those 2 are mine! Very weird.

I work as a security guard, and I have spot I always sit in and when I see someone sitting in that spot, I get very upset.

I rush when someone wants to take my spot. Unless they honk. In the store or library, when somebody seems to want to look at the stuff I'm looking at, or use a computer, or what have you, I try to wrap it up as quickly as possible. Courtesy has always been in my blood, but I also have some serious self-worth issues and am very passive when it comes to communication and boundary-setting. This has a big influence on territorialness I think.

This behaviour show up in ATMs too. People using the ATM tend to spend more time when there's other waiting.

I wonder how much of this is due to the person spending some mental clock cycles worrying about the person waiting, rather than doing the things they need to do to finish up and clear out. Like it's a distraction based delay rather than a "spite"/"territory" based one?

Is it a law that someone has to leave immediately after getting into their vehicle? That's the thing that really irks me is that they follow you all the way to your car and pressure you to leave immediately. This was the worst in college when the only place I could get any sleep between classes was in my car, and I would have to tell 50 people that I am not leaving right now just to cross the parking lot. Not only do I not feel safe with people following me, sometimes driving like a couple feet behind me, but its just awkward. I dont think I should have to feel pressured to hurry up just for walking to my car. It feels like a bit of entitlement on the part of the parking vultures. Ive shook my head to let people know I am not leaving and people got mad, like they claimed my spot because they saw me walking. I almost never wait for people's spots, and if I do, I accept all of the consequences including waiting forever only to figure out they arent gonna leave. I just park farther away and walk, I dont trust people to park around me anyways. Im not saying I deliberately make people wait and uaually I get in and go, but if I am not ready to leave then I am not ready to leave.

11:54 When you already do puzzles, why not do puzzles that teach you something? It's honestly a compelling argument.

Having worked as a delivery driver, I can confirm that humans are hardly the most irrational animals when it comes to defending secondary territory. Nothing like the dog who assumes he owns the entire gas station.

Loving these new scishow vides in this new fancy studio:)

I tend to be more careful when there is a vehicle behind me in the aisle. I’m appropriately extra careful (and slow) if I hear a horn. If I see a waiting car with existing collision damage, I might wait until it has passed.

I feel called out for watching this while sitting on the toilet. But at least it’s *MY* toilet. * ignores rental lease *

I always try to hurry up when someone is waiting for me, whether I'm leaving a parking spot, pulling out of an ATM, using a self checkout, even when I'm driving and someone is waiting to turn onto the street. Life would be just a tiny little bit easier if everyone was a little more courteous to each other.

I roll down window, and ask if theyre leaving. If so, patiently wait. If not, find elsewhere to go.

Now find a way to stop the person waiting pulling up so close that you can’t reverse out properly.

I definitely have the opposite of this instinct, to the point where if I'm in the grocery checkout and I have a lot of groceries, and someone is waiting next, I actually feel guilty to the point of getting almost panicky.

Tables in the cafe car on the Amtrak NE corridor definitely get the territorial treatment. One person will spread their stuff out to take up the entire table that's meant to seat 4. The coaches are like this too, folks always sit in one seat and put their bag in the other so they don't have to sit next to someone. I won't pretend I'm immune from doing the second one.

3 minutes longer on the phone?! That's one I can live without

When I had a car (now happily car-free), I would rush to leave a parking spot if someone was waiting. I don't think that anyone ever used their horn to me because I would always acknowledge them. The study carrel example made me smile. I used to get to the college library as soon as it opened in order to claim "my" carrel. I'd leave my stuff there all day and hide there when I had no classes. I now know, 50 years on from that time, that this was part of my autism. I had no guilt about it. It was MY carrel as far as I was concerned. I was very territorial. At work, it was different. My time, my space, and my resources were available for others to use. Even resources that I'd purchased with my own money were available. Looking back, the only time that I was territorial was, strangely, about plants. My classroom was decorated with lots of houseplants. Once, without asking me, they were borrowed by the management to decorate the school hall for an event. I went ballistic! Usually, it is just my home that I am territorial about. Again, part of my autism, I hate having people visiting. It's an "invasion" of my territory. I only allow 2 people into my home these days. It's a family thing as well. My late uncle allowed me and his sister-in-law, who lived next door into his home. When I was clearing his home after his death, I was told by several neighbours that they had never seen inside the house. Our homes are our castles and I like the drawbridge to be up!

! Idea ! Wondering if there's a study on people taking longer on tasks when being watched. As one diagnosed w/ ADHD, I know I get flustered and focus and 9 different things and get reminded of all sorts of exciting tasks to complete in the future.. Questioning if those who are neurotypical act in the same manner and if the pressure has an impact on the time taken to move from that parking spot edit: grammar & format

I'm really enjoying the return to long form content

The library aisle surprised me, as I generally try to be as courteous as possible in a library. i wonder if this was studied in a university library, where students might be stressed out working on assignments, or a public library with more people reading for pleasure?

seeing this 3 days before my driving test feels like it’s about to be ironic

7:32 I guess it would be more appropriate to say that “They cut into the lane that I was using.”

[The parking lot data] Me: People who drive are petty. I'm glad I'm not like them! [The library data] Me: Oh no . . .

I was walking by a parked car that someone had just gotten into, and watched them pull out their phone and recline their seat, as someone was already honking at them for their spot

My experience in Australian libraries is the opposite. I feel guilty walking up to where someone else is standing. Because they almost always move off when they see another person.

You honk at me, I'm leaving my car in park, eating a snack, taking a good drink, texting my mom.

That bathroom stall study may need to be performed somewhere outside Canada for the most accurate results

This reminds me of all the times I have to tell my son to leave one of his little sisters alone when they're eating because "come on [son], you KNOW [sister] is territorial!" Which is an absurd thing to say to your 5 year old about just one of his 3 year old sisters. 😂

I also tend to park farther away, where there are no potential disputes over parking spots. I would much rather have peace of mind of parking quickly and enjoying a walk (even in rain/snow) than the extra time and aggravation of dealing with closer spot hunting, especially avoiding potential conflict with other parkers coming and going. Also helps me find my car better when it's out there on its lonesome rather than walking up and down many isles to find it. Preferably park near a cart return or lamp post or other landmark.

The only thing that really annoys me when I’m leaving a parking space is if someone has parked so close to wait that it’s really hard for me not to run into them as I’m leaving 3:12 hilarious